Tag Archive: being blessed

Sometimes in life, when things aren’t going your way and you begin to wonder if you’re blessed or cursed, look to the word of God and find out what the Lord says. The bible does not teach or reveal that a person is considered blessed based on the presence of material possessions or perfect scenarios. For instance, there are no passages that say “blessed is the person who has their dream house; blessed is the person who has an abundance of gold and silver; blessed is the person who is offered a new, high-paying job.” Nor does the word of God say the opposite if these things aren’t present: “cursed is the person who is short on money; cursed is the person who can’t find a job; cursed is the person who lives in meager dwellings.”

So what does it mean to be blessed? Before that can be answered, it must be defined. The word ‘blessed’ comes from a German word ‘bletsian’ meaning ‘blood’ – the reference being back to Old Testament sacrifices. The English-speaking church chose to use the word ‘bless’ as a translation for the Greek ‘eulogeitos’, the meaning of which is explained below. This Greek word actually provides the English word ‘eulogy’: ‘eu’ means “good” and ‘logy’ means “word” – hence the meaning of eulogy is literally ‘a good word’.

This Greek word ‘eulogeitos’ was chosen by the New Testament writers as the nearest equivalent word they had for the contextual meaning for the Old Testament Hebrew word ‘barak’, which literally means ‘to kneel’.

Eujlogevw Eulogeo (yoo-log-eh’-o) / blessed means: to praise, celebrate with praises, to consecrate a thing with solemn prayers, to cause to prosper, to make happy, favored of God.

When you read the word of God, there are many passages that describe what constitutes a “BLESSED” life. What the world tends to have us believe is that material possessions, wealth, power and prosperity are the signs of a blessed life; although the world prefers to use the term “lucky.” God’s word though, declares that His people are blessed before they receive anything, not because of it. Jacob received the blessing of his father, but if you look at his life after he received that blessing, he faced the fear of death because Esau, his brother, wanted to kill him for stealing the blessing. He was a blessed man despite what his current and upcoming circumstances in Haran looked like.

How do you know you’re blessed? What does a blessed life really look like? Here are a few examples to help you gain a better understanding:

Job 5:17 – Blessed (happy/favored) is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

Psalm 1:1 – Blessed (happy/favored) is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of the sinners or sit in the seat of mockers

Psalm 32:2 – Blessed (happy/favored) is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Psalms 40:4 – Blessed (happy/favored) is the man who makes the Lord God his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.

Proverbs 3:13 – Blessed (happy/favored) is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding.

Proverbs 28:14 – Blessed (happy/favored) is the man who fears the Lord.

Jeremiah 17:7 – Blessed (happy/favored) is the man who trusts the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.

Matthew 11:6 – Blessed (happy/favored) is the man who does not fall away on account of Me.

James 1:2 – Blessed (happy/favored) is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

There are, of course, more scriptural examples of how God’s word defines a blessed life. It’s important to know that when someone says to you or when you say to someone else, “have a blessed day / be blessed”, what is actually being proclaimed. This makes quite a difference when you go through life, especially when you’re facing difficult times. You are blessed, despite what all outward appearances reveal and bank statements reflect.